OverviewThe Mexican military battle commemorated each year on the fifth of May is chronicled. Mexico has defaulted on its debt to France, and French troops have arrived to topple the government leadership and install a monarch. In the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, a few thousand Mexican soldiers defeat a much larger French force. The romantic relationship of a young couple is woven into larger context, but emphasis is placed on the valor of individual soldiers in the daylong battle. The immediacy of war is portrayed as the resistance fighters struggle to protect their homeland. The hilly terrain presents communication challenges for commanding officers, and the battle outcome is unclear until the French forces eventually retreat.